Monthly Archives: December 2011

We will be doing a multi-part blog series on Carlos Andica. You may find the posts on our sister blog: www.gwenweightlifting.blogspot.com.

We just got back from training with Carlos over the holidays. He is starting his Olympic training cycle in his journey to winning an Olympic medal in London. By the way, he is on track to pull off some stunning upsets. His clean and jerk of 205KG at the 2011 Pan Am Games was a medal at the 2011 World Championships.

Here is a photo gallery depicting the training settings of his gym in Armenia, Colombia. Note, Carlos gives back to neighborhood kids by coaching and helping them with their technique.

armenia-annie-122511-448

This week, our favorite Icelander, Annie Thorisdottir- 2011 CrossFit Games Champion- stopped by Risto Sports to train with Coach Ivan Rojas before heading back to Iceland.

Anyhow, it is always great to see someone you trained with, even after several months. Of course, Annie looked ripped as ever and in great shape. She seemed to put on more muscle mass in her legs since our last meeting, in January, and maintained Ivan’s Technical adjustments such as squatting more upright and pulling with the bar closer.

As it was my off day, I got to hang out and play photographer while Ivan, Annie, and Frederik (Annie’s boyfriend) moved some weights.

Now, if you are a high level athlete or aspiring to be one, you may be wondering what type of work out you would do with Ivan –especially, if you were in town just for the day.

Coach Ivan Rojas smiling while Annie shows technical perfection

…Allright, I’ll tell you:

Ivan started by analyzing Annie and Frederik’s technique. Ivan measured the speed of the bar as well as the path of the bar. Specifically, Ivan first did tests with the full snatch, followed by the clean and jerk. Afterwards, Ivan also measured the speed of the jerk from the high blocks.

In between, we worked on specific technical aspects. For example, we did very nuanced work on Annie’s pull.

Here is a short video showing an example of technical feedback and coaching. Notice the interaction between coach and athlete. It’s all about improving yourself:
httv://youtu.be/9F-3o2LBNQE

For the record, according to Ivan’s tests, Annie has very efficient technique — even for a weightlifter.

What can you learn from Annie?

Frederik doing technical work

Annie has an awesome attitude. Yes, she won the Crossfit Games, and her next logical thought is to improve her weightlifting, which will also improve her CrossFit. Additionally, like all great athletes, Annie listens and takes feedback. She stays focuses, takes Ivan’s direction, then improves her next lift. She doesn’t over analyze things (something I need to work on), nor does she under think.

Finally, notice that Frederik and Annie are doing very light weights in these photos. This is a sign of not letting one’s ego get in the way of improving. To do technical analysis, one must use light weights. ( they actually did go a bit heavier).